Foundry sand

Description

A refractory sand used in metal casting molds. Foundry sand usually contains silica, alumina, and clay with trace amounts of zirconium, titanium, or other metal oxides. For hollow molds, foundry sand is packed between the casting pattern and the molding box for support. In other casting methods, the pattern may be pressed directly into the sand then removed leaving an impression in the sand for the metal cast. Still other methods use a wax pattern around which the sand is molded. The mold is baked to removed the wax, then filled with molten metal. Binders, such as casein, are used to maintain the integrity of the packed sand.

Synonyms and Related Terms

molding sand; sable de fonderie (Fr.); Formsand (Deut.); areia de fundição (Port.)

Authority

• Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)

• Thomas Gregory, The Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Reinhold Publishing, New York, 3rd ed., 1942

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000